Honda CR-V Hybrid: Yes for Europe, No Confirmation for United States

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Honda is aiming to expand its hybrid offerings in the United States as it moves toward a goal of electrifying 65 percent of its global fleet by 2030. In the near term, one way we might see it is with a Honda CR-V hybrid, which the automaker confirmed earlier this year is on the way—and which will make its debut in prototype form next week at the Frankfurt auto show.

The CR-V hybrid is front-wheel drive, with a version of the Accord hybrid’s Intelligent Multi-Mode Drive (i-MMD) hybrid system. On one side of a clutch is the engine, with an electric motor geared directly to a 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle gasoline four-cylinder engine, while on the other side is the other motor, geared to the differential. That allows the system to select among three driving modes: EV Drive, Hybrid Drive, and Engine Drive, with the latter actually connecting the gasoline engine to the drive wheels via a fixed ratio.

Honda first previewed the CR-V hybrid for the China market earlier this year. For Europe, Honda says, the CR-V hybrid will be Honda’s first ever electrified SUV model—and we suspect it would be the same for the U.S., if and when it’s sold here. Honda has dropped plenty of hints that the CR-V hybrid might also come to the U.S. market; but, as a spokesperson underscored, Honda hasn’t yet confirmed that it’s arriving or what the timeline might be.

Here in the U.S., Toyota already sells the RAV4 hybrid, which was the second-best-selling hybrid on the market in 2016, trailing only the Prius. Nissan has also entered this class with the Rogue hybrid. And the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid has been such a strong seller in Europe that it has led—several times now—to the delay of that model’s arrival in the United States. Considering how well this system works in the Accord hybrid, for Honda to add a new hybrid to one of the strongest market segments of the U.S. vehicle market would seem to be a no-brainer.